02 January 2011

Blues and Brothers

Koorie and Department of Justice colors flown together.
Every year a group of kayaking and canoeing enthusiasts brave the 100°F (38°C) summer heat to navigate the 5-day 404km (251 miles) Murray River Marathon. For the ninth year in a row the Blues and Brothers program entered the competition, but this year they had an international participant.

The history between the Aboriginal Community and police officers is long and ugly. Judging by some of the attitudes I witnessed over the last week, it's safe to say that as collective groups there is little love lost between them. Fortunately, there are people on both sides willing and interested in improving the relationship. The Blues and Brothers Murray River Marathon program is one of the resulting efforts to engage Aboriginal youth and police officers together in a positive activity. We spent five days camping together, eating together, waking up at 5am together, and of course, rowing together.

Assisting with a change-over on the banks of the Cumeragunja mission.

This was not an easy week. The swollen river conditions forced the organizers to add longer-than-normal legs to the race. Our team was changing rowers at the check points, but longer distances meant many of the younger kids didn't get a chance to row and the same people rowed day after day through the sore muscles and blisters. It also meant waiting hours in the hot sun for the paddlers to complete their leg. Much of the time on the river felt like work instead of holiday. And the days we had to move locations were a real struggle - there was no relaxing until the tents were set up. And then after tea ("dinner") the next day's sandwiches and esky's (I got laughed at when I called them "coolers") had to be made up.

But still, there were smiles.


I was glad to see how the kids attacked all this hard work with a sense of humor and play. There was the famous day of butter sandwiches were we were all so tired we just slabbed butter on both sides of the bread and dealt with the consequences the next day (which was not very pleasant, but made tea very popular that night). There was the day everyone got dunked in the pool at the caravan park. I took my attacker down with me to the delight of the youth - he was high up in the police ranks. "Yanks don't go down easy," I said when I came up for air.

This group was rarely serious (see video for proof),



but there was an objective to fulfill. We passed through Yorta Yorta, Wemba Wemba, Waywurru, and Barababaraba country, talking all the way about culture and differences and similarities.

Cumeragunja mission just visible through the trees.

We visited the Cumeragunja mission in New South Wales, which is recognized as still part of the Victorian Community since so many different groups were forced to locate there. The people who live there have a history of great strength and we used its bank as a change-over stop instead of the designated spot on the Victorian side of the river. Our van drove through the mission to see what life is like there so the kids could understand how some of their cousins live. Looking at the old school house gave me chills. I know we were supposed to be focused on present day issues and life styles, but I can't help remembering the history. It's not even really history yet - everything is very much in living memory.

This scar tree was moved from the deep bush to the Yorta Yorta Cultural Heritage Center across the river from the mission. We took a group photo in front of it. The scar here marks the removal of a 10-man canoe without killing the tree. This isn't New England, I remembered, trees are precious commodity here.


On the last night we had an extra special treat. We went out for tea (that was also a treat) and Johnny Huckle noticed our uniform shirts. He asked if he could join us and do some songs to contribute to our trip. He was wonderful.



Not only did we learn the famous Wombat Wobble (just like the lucky folks above, posted by 77advet), but he also talked to the kids about his life's story and shared his passion with them. Kids that were quiet and unresponsive for most of the trip were taping their toes and singing along to "Koorie Love".

Johnny's generosity and energy was very well timed. Just as he was deciding to visit with us, we had the bad news that the last day of the race was canceled due to high temperatures (43°C/109°F) and extreme risk of fire. The kids were disappointed, but Johnny's mini-concert took away the sting.

All-in-all this was a great experience for everyone involved. We shared stories (did you know you used to be able to see straight to the bottom of the river and count catfish?), we discovered cousins we didn't know we had, we adopted each other as family, we listened, we learned, we played. It was a great week.

1 comment:

  1. Sounds like a very rewarding trip! Even though at times it was tedious, I'm sure the kids loved interacting with all the adults, and it was a great opportunity to meet more of the community as a whole. Kudos to you for surviving in the heat with your fair skin and skinny arms!

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